


Fishstick

by Kiterie



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-16
Updated: 2010-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-28 04:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/670484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiterie/pseuds/Kiterie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yamato has his own team and Iruka helps him with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Senpai, I hate you!" Tenzou growled as he paced back and forth in the Hokage's office. "You did this to me on purpose!"

Iruka watched the scene, trying not to laugh and wondering if maybe he should step in and help the fuming Jounin out. But on the other hand it was a lot of fun to watch somebody else have to deal with the hokage for a change.

Kakashi held another card up to his infant son and two year old daughter who were perched on his desk. "This hand sign is called..."

"Kitty!" screeched the two year old.

"No, it's tiger," he corrected.

"Kitty! Kitty! Kitty!" she squealed.

"Senpai, you're not even listening to me!"

"Tiger!"

"Kitty!"

"Senpai!"

"Oh hi Tenzou. When did you get here?" Kakashi asked as he turned and looked up at him innocently, well as innocently as he was capable of looking. Which Iruka decided wasn't very. He watched as the vein on Tenzou's forehead pulsed.

"I've been trying to get your attention for 10 minutes now," he said with a surprising about amount of calm. Iruka understood better than most exactly how infuriating the man could be. Although he was surprised to see this particular jounin losing his temper with the Hokage. Under most circumstances Tenzou seemed to adore Kakashi to the point Iruka was beginning to think there was a bit more to it than simple admiration for the other man's skills.

"Oh, well, you know how demanding children are."

The vein looked ready to burst at this point. "That's exactly what I've been trying to tell you!"

"Ah, but since I just told you then you can be assured I already know. Thank you for understanding though," Kakashi said as he started to turn his focus back to the kids.

"Senpai, how could you?" Tenzou whined. Iruka raised an eyebrow at that, he'd never heard Tenzou whine before.

"Hm? How could I what?"

"You deliberately gave me the most difficult team you could come up with," he said, still whining. Iruka was impressed, the whining seemed to be working on the otherwise oblivious shinobi. He could see Kakashi wince very slightly when the other man did it.

"I don't know what you're talking about. The academy senseis put the team lists together."

"With your help and you're the one who assigns the jounin who test them. You're the one who talked me into this, and then you give me the worst team you could find."

"I gave you a team that already knows how to work together and a team with genin who have the potential to be ANBU someday. I gave you the best team."

"You gave me the team that would pass the test because they were already teaming up on their sensei at the academy! You gave me Anko's spawn! Anko's!" Iruka noticed Tenzou was yelling again and he wondered why since the whining seemed to unnerve Kakashi so well.

"She's Ibiki's too, you know," Kakashi added helpfully. "People sometimes forget that."

"Which only means aside from being a genius with an unholy gift for sizing people up she's also IMMUNE to the look! My ghoul eyes don't work on her. She has no fear! Of anything!" Iruka noted the whining had returned and when combined with the yelling it came off as something closer to pleading.

"She does kind of take after Anko doesn't she..." the silver haired man said, looking both thoughtful and a little guilty. Maybe the pleading worked best. Iruka would have to try that next time he wanted Kakashi to do some actual work.

"Mreow!" Rin chirped as she rubbed up against Tenzou's leg, causing the already stressed out jounin to half jump out of his skin.

Iruka couldn't stop the snicker that escaped causing both of the other men to turn and look at him. "Sorry," he said, blushing slightly from the attention as he walked over and picked the small girl up. "Now Rin what did I tell you about playing kitty in your father's office?"

The little girl's face screwed up in thought. "Only 'neak up on Daddy?"

Iruka laughed and blushed again when the masked nin glared at him. "The other part."

"No biting Mommy?"

"No... the part about not when your daddy is working."

"Daddy not working. Daddy talking to unkie twee!"

Itruka snickered at the nick name. "Uncle Tree is talking to your dad about work stuff." Iruka spared an appologetic glance at Tenzou. "So why don't you come over here and color Uncle Tree a picture while he talks to your daddy?"

"Of a twee! Unkie Twee likes twees!"

"Sure draw him a tree," he said, smiling up at Tenzou who was staring at him. "Well 'Uncle Tree' you should probably finish talking with Kakashi-san before she finishes coloring and keep in mind she has his attention span." Iruka pointed over at the copy-nin who was back to trying to teach his son hand signs.

"Senpai!"

Kakashi looked up guilt written across his features. "Maa? They can't be that bad. I gave you Asuma. What can two girls and Asuma do that's so terrible?"

"He does whatever those two say. They bat their eyes at him and he just helps them do whatever it is they want him to help them do."

"He really is his father's son. Still they couldn't have gotten into too much trouble."

"Kawa Inuzuka, Aki Morino, and Asuma Saroutobi used a dog to catch a cat!"

"That's pretty clever!" Kakashi said grinning.

"Unless you're the cat or their jounin sensei who has to explain why a giant dog is carrying the cat in its mouth to the cat's owner!"

"How long did it take?"

"About an hour, why?

"About an hour or an hour?"

"What?!"

"There's a difference between an hour and almost an hour."

"An hour and 3 minutes okay now would you please pay attention Senpai?"

"Wow! They beat my record... Only by 9 minutes and I was quite a bit younger but still..." It was obvious that the hokage was grinning beneath his mask. "Did you hear that Obito? Your big brother beat Daddy's record."

"Senpai!"

"What?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Why would you need to do anything?"

"Argh! They won't listen to me and they keep getting into trouble!"

"I'm sure you can figure it out. You got Sai and Naruto to get along."

"They were a lot older and the ghoul eyes worked on Naruto!"

"You're one of my best which is why I gave them to you," Kakashi said, grinning and scooping up his son. "Iruka I'm going to lunch. I'll finish the paper work for the reconstruction later. Come on Rin-chan let's go find Mommy so you can bite her!"

"Rar!" Rin squealed as she dropped her papers and ran over to climb on her father's back.

"That's right, Rar!"

Iruka watched them leave and then turned to Tenzou who was standing there gaping. "Why don't I buy you lunch Tensou-san? You look like you could use it." He didn't wait for an answer, simply grabbed the other man's arm and dragged him out of the office.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why does he do things like this to me?" Tenzou muttered as they walked towards the ramen stand the chunin was so fond of. "I swear he gets some kind of perverse pleasure from it."

Iruka nodded, keeping step with him despite his slow pace. "Trust me, he does. Of course, I think he gets perverse pleasure out of irritating just about everyone, Kurenai included, so don't take it too personally."

Tenzou sighed. "It's hard not to when he does it deliberately."

"Kakashi's not that bad. I think it's his somewhat unique attempt at showing affection."

"Where do you get that idea?" He'd always thought so, but he'd decided a long time ago it was just him hoping that was the reason the silver-haired shinobi did the things he did. It was almost weird to hear somebody else say it.

"Well..." Iruka started, biting his lip and staring at the road and his feet thoughtfully. "I guess it's from the way he treated Team 7 all those years. I mean, he was hard on them, and, yes, he thought giving them ridiculous tasks was entertaining, but he usually had a good reason for it." The chunin turned and smiled at him. "I'm not even sure he's aware of it himself. He doesn't like to admit he cares so much about people."

He stared at the man beside him, surprised by the insight.

"He does care. I think Tsunade-sama saw that better than any of us when she appointed him to replace her. She wouldn't have appointed somebody who didn't care deeply for the people of Konoha. After all, a hokage has to be willing to die for the village."

"So do shinobi." Honestly, he agreed with the point but still.

"Not exactly. A shinobi has to be willing to live and fight for Konoha above even dying for her. In some ways, that is harder, until you consider that the Hokage has to be willing to stand back and sacrifice those they would truly sooner die to protect than send on missions they know often mean death."

Tenzou decided that Iruka-san must have thought about this a lot. Probably when he was angry with Kakashi-senpai for not doing his work.

"Sorry," Iruka said smiling at him. "I'm rambling."

"I don't mind," he said, realizing that he really didn't. Iruka was nice. Nice? Tenzou wondered when the last time was that he'd described a shinobi as nice was and actually have it be a compliment. Usually, he thought they were interesting, different, skilled, talented, even irritating in that special charming way Kakashi-senpai was. But rarely nice. That's usually something he ascribed to civilians. His land lady was nice. The grocer was nice. Heck, the lady who cleaned his apartment was nice.

It took him a moment to realize that Iruka was still talking to him, and that he had asked him a question. "Hm?"

"So, why do you like Kakashi?"

"Well..." It had taken him forever to figure it out himself. "Because Kakashi doesn't see anyone except me when he looks at me."

Iruka stared at him, confusion displayed in his eyes.

"Usually, when people realize what my abilities are, they look at me differently. First, they're impressed. Then, they're confused as to why I have my abilities. And, then, depending on the person, they either look at me with sympathy because of how I got them, fear because of the person responsible for that, or, what has to be the worst, awe. Like they're seeing the First and not me anymore." He paused, studying the other man's face. The expression seemed contemplative. "Kakashi-senpai was the first person to not do any of that. He just... blinked. I think he was actually surprised. But, after that, nothing. He looked at me like he did before, and I never got the feeling it was an act."

"I see..." The chunin said, looking as though something had clicked into place for him. "Ah, here we are. What kind of ramen do you want?"

"Miso, please." Yamato sat down on one of the stools. It surprised him to find they were the only ones there.

\-----

They followed from a safe distance, surely their sensei wouldn't notice them from all the way back here. After all, beyond the trail he was leaving, Aoimaru couldn't even smell him from this distance.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Aki asked, turning to look at the girl beside her as she brushed the purple and brown strands out of her face.

"I can't make out the words. I think I heard them say something about the Rokudaime. We could get a little closer..."

"They'll catch us," Asuma said in a hushed voice.

"Nah, Tenzou-sensei is too busy talking to Iruka-sensei. Besides, how are we supposed to know if he knows if we don't get closer. What if Iruka-sensei already knows and is going to tell him?" Kawa sounded nervous.

"Iruka-sensei doesn't know. They were talking to Kakashi the whole time I was doing the genjutsu, right, Aki-chan?"

"Right, but still he's talking to Iruka-sensei, and you know how he always just kind of knew when we'd done something... Maybe we should just get a little closer so we can, you know, keep an ear open just in case." The three kids looked at each other and then edged over until they were within hearing distance, only one stand away.

\---------

Tenzou knew they were following him, he knew they'd been up to something, and he knew eventually he'd find out what. For now, he just had to figure out what to do about whatever they'd done.

"So, Iruka-san, what made you give up teaching pre-genin and deal with Kakashi-senpai." He'd been wondering for awhile, but he and Iruka didn't really spend a lot of time around each other, and it was always when they were busy dealing with the Rokudaime.

"You really think getting Kakashi to do his paperwork is all that different from getting a ten-year-old to do his homework?" Iruka asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Tenzou laughed and shook his head. "I suppose not."

"What can I say, I like a challenge." Iruka winked at him before taking another bite of his ramen. "Besides, I couldn't leave poor Asuma-kun to deal with him. Kurenai would have been pulling her hair out, and Asuma would never learn how important it is to actually be on time. And, let's not go into Kakashi's choices for bedtime reading."

"Just don't tell me that he subconsciously chose you so that he'd get work done. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but I doubt that it was anything along those lines," Tenzou said, laughing.

"Actually, it was at Kurenai's request. Kakashi's a genius. He knows better than to piss her off. At least, that's what he claims." It made Tenzou wonder if that was the real reason, sometimes his senpai surprised him.

"So, you got to babysit two kids instead of fifteen to twenty?"

"Actually, four, if you count Aki and Kawa, too. Those kids have been attached at the hips for years. Although, Kakashi is almost worse than the other three, and now, with the two little ones, it's starting to feel like I'm back at the academy." Iruka handed his now empty bowl to Ayame.

"Can I get you anything else, Umino-san?" The girl asked, smiling.

"Just some tea."

"How did you manage? They're worse than Naruto."

"You just have to know their weaknesses and their secrets," Iruka said, smirking.

"Secrets?" Tenzou asked, beyond curious.

Iruka nodded. "Like the fact that Asuma-kun wet the bed until he was eight. He'd make up the silliest reasons not to have a sleep-over with the girls just so they wouldn't find out. Kawa-chan is still scared of the dark. Used to scare herself senseless with ghost stories when they finally did start having sleep overs, all so the other two would be so scared they'd leave a light on. And our dear sweet Aki-chan won't sleep without her baby blanket. She hides it in her pillow case."

"You're evil, Iruka-san," Tenzou said, chuckling softly.

\----

"I did not!" Asuma protested weakly, his face turning an impressive shade of red.

"He's lying!" Kawa shouted, before covering her mouth with her hands.

"No, he's not." The blush on Aki's face rivaled the one on Asuma's. "But, I think we'd better keep Iruka-sensei from giving away any more of our secrets. Especially to Tenzou-sensei." She stood up from where she was crouched on the roof. "Let's go."

The three genin and Aoimaru jumped down and headed to the ramen stand. "Iruka-Sensei!" Aki said, throwing her arms around him. "Buy us ramen, please, please, please?"

Iruka raised an eyebrow at her. "Nice imitation of Naruto, but given what you've been up to. Not today."

"We haven't been up to anything, Iruka-sensei." The three genin, and even Aoimaru, put on their innocent faces.

Iruka laughed and shook his head. "Tenzou-sensei already told me what you did this morning."

"Aw, come on please?" They whined.

"Maybe later, if you're good."

\-----

He studied the three genin, trying to decide what they were up to.

"Tenzou-sensei, are we going to do anymore training today?" Aki asked, seemingly innocently.

"After lunch," he said, as he secretly thought, 'And, after I've figured out a way to punish you three.'

The kids ordered tea and whispered amongst themselves, occasionally looking in Tenzou and Iruka's direction. Tenzou tried to pretend he couldn't hear the hushed "You think he knows?", and instead tried to focus on his and Iruka's conversation, which had shifted to politics.

"There they are! And, how convenient that their sensei is with them!" An angry voice growled from down the street. He cringed inwardly. Why did Kakashi have to assign him to /this/ team?

"May I help you ladies?" He asked politely, as the five rather irate women walked up to him.

"Those kids of yours should be kept on a leash! That dog of theirs is better behaved than they are," the oldest of the women, a gray-haired, wrinkled hag said as she jabbed a finger in the direction of his team. "Honestly, if they're supposed to be the next generation of shinobi, I hope I'm dead before they make chunin!"

Tenzou was grateful for his ANBU training. Otherwise, he would have burst out laughing at the statement. As it was, it took all his self-restraint not to pat her on the shoulder and tell her she had nothing to worry about then.

"May I ask, what exactly it is my team has done to upset you so much?" 

"Frogs!" This was a slightly younger woman, the gray just barely beginning to show in her red hair.

"Frogs?" Okay, they definitely had his attention.

"Yes. Frogs." The older woman said again, sending a glare at the genin. Tenzou looked at his team, who were doing their best innocent act. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Those heathens!" The woman was nearing the incoherent point of rage. "They set frogs loose in the women's bath house!"

"Hundreds," said the twenty-something brunette from her position behind the redhead.

"Ah," Tenzou said, nodding. "Well, I assure you I will find an appropriate way to deal with the situation. I apologize for their inexcusable behavior, and I assure you that it will /never/ happen again." He shot a look at his team.

"You had better, or I swear we'll take this to the Hokage himself."

"No need for that. It will be taken care of," he assured them.

After several more assurances that he would punish them, harshly, the women left.

"Well, so much for my lunch." Sighing, Tenzou pushed the rest of his ramen away. "Now, what to do with you three... Maybe I should hand you over to Iruka-san and let him deal with you, since you obviously listen to him a bit better than me." He was exasperated, and only half serious.

Three sets of eyes went wide. "Please, no! We'll be good! We swear!" The three chorused.

"Instead of just handing them over to me, why don't I help you so you can learn exactly how to deal with them when they don't behave," Iruka said, grinning brightly and patting him on the shoulder.

"No, no, no, please, Tenzou-sensei?" The three kids were practically hiding behind him as they begged.

"I would greatly appreciate the help Iruka-san," he said completely ignoring the pleading.

"Well then, give me an hour to arrange my schedule, and I'll meet you guys at the hot springs." Iruka dropped some money on the counter before waving and heading off in the direction of the hokage's office.

"Sensei, you're so mean!" Aki whined. "Iruka-sensei is evil! I swear he never lets us have any fun."

Tenzou shook his head and asked Ayame for his ticket.

"Umino-san took care of it."

"Fine, give me the kids' then."

"He took care of that, too." She smiled at him brightly as she cleared the counter.

"Oh... okay."


	3. Chapter 3

Iruka smiled to himself as he headed back to the office. It was nice to have somebody around willing to actually listen to his advice. Kakashi would ask his opinion, nod like he understood, and then ignore it. Honestly, at times it seemed the man asked simply so he could confirm that it was exactly NOT what he wanted to do. Oh well, for today the great, all-knowing, pain in the ass could ask Kurenai for advice he had no intention of following. Iruka intended to spend the rest of his day having some fun.

He pushed the door open to the mission room and smiled. "Hey Kotetsu, Izumo."

"Hey, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be cracking the whip over the Hokage?" the spikey-haired chunin asked grinning up at him.

"I'm taking the afternoon off to help a friend." He walked up to the desk and leaned on it. "I need to see a list of your D-rank missions."

"Izumo, I think he's finally lost it."

"It's not exactly for me. I told you, I'm helping a friend. He just happens to have a genin team." Iruka took the list from Kotetsu and scanned it. "Hmm...  Give me numbers 4, 6, and 10." After tucking the scrolls in his pack, he wrote a quick note and gave it to Izumo. "Give this to Kakashi for me." He waved to his two old friends as he headed out the door.

\----------

Iruka was leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the hotsprings, with his arms crossed over his chest, when Tenzou and the kids showed up. He smirked and pulled out the scrolls.

Asuma whined the minute he saw them. "Do we have to Iruka-sensei? It was just a genjutsu. It's not like I hurt anyone..."

Iruka frowned at him. "And, if one them had run, slipped, and broken something?" He asked, an eyebrow raised giving his face a look that said he knew all to well the consequences of pulling pranks without thinking.

The three genin had the sense not to protest when he handed each of them a  scroll.

"Baby-sitting at the orphanage? Sensei, you have an evil streak." Kawa turned to her teammates, peering at their own scrolls. "What'd you two get?" She asked curiously as the other girl unrolled hers.

"Reading to Takahashi-san." Aki got a rather defeated look on her face as she stared at the scroll. "I bet she makes me read all those letters from her grandson and then..." The girls shoulders slumped forward as the thought filled her head. "And then, she's going to try and convince me I should date him. The last time I saw her, Anko-kun wouldn't stop teasing me for a week. She even said she would invite him over for tea next time he was in town if 'I wanted her to.'  Like I would ever want that."

Asuma chuckled at his friend's horror until Aki turned and glared at him. However, he was still grinning as he unrolled his own scroll. Then the words on the page filtered through the amusement and his face fell.

"What is it Asuma-kun?" Aki asked curiously. Kawa leaned on her shoulder ever bright and cheerful despite the impending torture.

"Nara-san is requesting assistance helping with an afternoon field trip that he's taking the academy students on."

"Haha! That's what you get for laughing at me. Yours is so much worse than mine!"

Asuma turned to the older shinobi. "Iruka-sensei, what does any of this have to do with what we did? And, why are we at the hotsprings if we're not going to be cleaning it or something?"

"Well, first of all, the only connection between what you did and your punishment is that if you guys aren't together you won't get into so much mischief." He smiled softly at each of them before continuing.

"As for why we're here... just because you three are in trouble doesn't mean Tenzou-sensei or myself should have to suffer through the punishment, too." Iruka smiled briefly at the other man before turning another stern look on the kids. "And, don't think you can get away with anything because Tenzou-sensei will be watching you very carefully with kage bushin."

Three sets of eyes darted from him to their sensei and back again. It took a great deal of self restraint not to laugh when the three fishmouthed simultaneously. He did however allow a smirk to sneak across his features.

A puff of air drew his attention to Tenzou, who now stood beside the bushin. "You three had better get started, or you won't get done in time to eat dinner at a decent hour," Tenzou said, giving them his ghoul eyes. For once getting a reaction out of them as all three of them shuddered before heading off to their tasks.

"Now, why did it work that time?" The man seemed genuinely confused.

"They were probably more horrified by the whole situation than the look," he said patting Tenzou on the shoulder, who slumped slightly at the comment.

"You're probably right."

"That or they're finally beginning to realize you have an evil streak of your own. You really were being too nice to them." Gently, he pushed his new friend towards the door.

"I guess I got used to not having to use more severe tactics. ANBU follow orders as they're supposed to."

"Naruto doesn't."

"The ghoul eyes work on him, and, if all else fails, I just threaten to tell his precious Iruka-sensei on him. That works even better than the ghoul eyes." Tenzou smiled lightly at him.

Iruka laughed and shook his head. "I can't believe the threat of no ramen still works on him. He could just buy his own now."

"Hmm... I don't quite think that's why it works." Tenzou smirked, and Iruka felt a blush spread across his cheeks. "I think he would be devestated if he ever disappointed you."

The blush deepened at the compliment. "They've been lucky to have you for their captain." Iruka gave the old woman at the front desk two bath tokens and thanked her for the baskets she gave him in return.

"I'm not as good with them as Kakashi-san." He accepted the basket Iruka offered him with a smile.

"Kakashi doesn't seem to agree. After all, he appointed you their leader when he became hokage."

Iruka decided not to mention the way Kakashi sulked when they all left the village on a mission, leaving him behind. As amusing as it might be, he decided Tenzou might take it to mean Kakashi didn't trust him. The copy-nin worried about his former teammates, but him moping about wasn't caused by that, so much as his desire to be out there with them.

They headed for the showers and the conversation shifted from the team to the latest gossip. Iruka knew more of the comings and goings than most. Although, his information came mostly from Kurenai and Anko, who were two of the worst gossips Iruka knew of. They always had been, though. Knowing there was little he could do to quell their nosy behavior, he used it to his advantage. As a result, he knew all the interesting little details of his comrades, both in and out of the field.

\----------

Iruka smiled softly as he headed home. It had been nice spending time with Tenzou, and, when they'd parted ways, it had been with an invitation to dinner as a thank you for his help. He was surprised at the warm feeling it caused. For the second time that day, he thought of how nice it was to have somebody around who took him seriously.


	4. Chapter 4

Tenzou shrugged out of the sweat shirt and stretched before starting again on his training. He began with the usual kata and slowly worked through every stance and motion, stretching his muscles leisurely. He enjoyed his early workout; it gave him time to think about the things   
he was too busy to consider during the day and too tired to consider at night. Sometimes he simply enjoyed the movements and the way the cool breeze brushed against his skin. 

He had to admit however, that the last couple of weeks had been far less chaotic. Ever since the first day Iruka had helped him deal with his team's antics. The tan shinobi had a sixth sense about their mischief and was helping him aquire one. It consisted of some very simple principals. The first was that if you can't see them... then they're up to something. If they're quiet... they're up to something. And most importantly if they're being good... they've done something. This of course accounted for most of the time the kids were awake. 

But, Iruka had explained that it didn't matter because his job wasn't actually to keep them out of trouble. Tenzou's job was to teach them why they should or shouldn't do something or failing this would make the consequence's suitably irritating that the genin simply wouldn't repeat the act. He was still having trouble understanding this concept. 

Although, some of the punishments Iruka had helped him concoct had been entertaining. They didn't always seem to reflect on the crime but he'd only had to put up with them doing two or three things they shouldn't have, instead of the dozen they seemed capable of. And, while they were whining over dinner about the horrible things they'd had to suffer through, Tenzou spent his time ignoring them and talking to Iruka. 

\--- 

The kids were running through several training exercises after having completed their first mission that hadn't ended in them being punished for something, and Tenzou sat with his back against a tree watching them. It was a nice day and he was surprised at how well behaved the three kids had been today, but he wasn't about to tell them that. 

The hours passed and the kids collapsed to the ground in an exhausted heap. In truth it was their first truly productive day and he'd managed to teach them to climb trees with their chakra. They were laughing and recounting all their screw ups in the exercise. All three burst into another fit of childish giggles when Asuma tried to stand up only to realize his legs had fallen asleep and promptly tumbled over. 

"They're /almost/ cute when they're like this," Iruka said coming up behind him. 

"Yeah, if it wasn't for the fact I know they're just trying to lull me into a false sense of security so they can do something that will give me gray hair." He smiled up at the tanned face of the other man. 

"Hmm... too late for that. I think I see one right... here." Iruka reached out and deftly plucked a single strand from his head. 

"Ouch." Not that it had actually hurt but still. 

He watched as Iruka pretended to study the hair. "Hmm nope, guess not, my mistake." Tossing the strand aside, the younger man grinned and plopped down beside him. 

"Looks like you actually wore them out," Iruka laughed. 

"It won't last. Give them a few minutes to catch their breath, and they'll be ready for something else. Could be worse though. They could have Naruto's energy." 

"Trust me, you have no idea. Compared to Naruto they're always calm." The conversation fell into their easy banter as they watched the three genin relaxing on the grass. 

\-------------- 

"Iruka-sensei's back," Asuma groaned half-heartedly. 

"Probably giving away more of our secrets," Kawa said as she rolled over onto her stomach and propped her head up on her hands. 

"He's evil. I swear he takes joy in ruining our fun." Aki stared at the flower she was holding above her head. Twirling it she plucked another petal off and spun it again, watching the sun glint through the gaps. 

"Kakashi-san says he's trying to help and that we should try listening sometime." The young boy sighed and tucked his hands behind his head. 

"Like Kakashi-san ever listens to him, maybe he should try taking his own advice, then maybe Iruka-sensei would be nicer since he wouldn't be mad at him all of the time." She plucked the remaing petals out and let them fall from her out-stretched fingers. Asuma reached out and snatched a few out of the air and proceeded to rip them up. 

"He's the hokage, he doesn't have to listen to Iruka-sensei if he doesn't want to," the other girl said, plucking bits of grass from her golden-brown hair. 

"I wish Iruka-sensei would go bother him instead of us for awhile. Tenzou-sensei doesn't pay attention to us when he's around, but Iruka-sensei always notices when we do anything." Aki muttered, letting her hands fall to the ground beside her. 

"Too bad Kakashi-san won't send them both on a mission without us..." Asuma rubbed the remaining flower pieces between his palms until they stained his hands yellow. 

"That'd be nice. Never happen though since the whole reason he assigned Tenzou-sensei to us was to ruin our fun." Kawa twirled the senbon between two fingers before sticking it between her teeth again. 

"We /have/ to do something,"Aki whined, glowering over at the two men who were laughing at some joke one or the other had told. 

"Yeah, but what?" Asuma gave her a defeated look. 

"I have a plan." Her grin held some twisted resemblence of both of her parents. 

"You always have plan." Kawa's eyes lit up with amusement and she tongued the senbon to the otherside of her mouth. 

"Hmm... yes, I do. What /would/ you two do without me?" And then the three burst into a fit of laughter, momentarily drawing curious looks from their targets. 

\------- 

"Kakashi-san, you /have/ to help us!" Aki whined as the other two gave pleading looks. "They're so mean, we never get to do anything anymore!" 

"Hn..." The hokage seemed less than impressed by the whining as he continued reading a rather worn orange book. 

"All we ever do is go on missions and train..." Kawa leaned over her dog's back, looking exhausted for a change. 

"You're shinobi now, that's what shinobi are supposed to do. Why, exactly, do I /have/ to help you not do what you're /supposed/ to do? What you should /want/ to do?" It was obvious even to the kids that they were being patronized. 

"We're tired of stupid D-rank missions and he won't let us go on anything higher. It's boring!" Asuma whined at his step-father. 

"Maybe if you didn't give him such a hard time he would." The suggestion rolled off the silver-haired man's tongue wrapped in obvious amusement. 

"He's such a stick in the mud though! And, he's only gotten worse now that Iruka-sensei's around." Kawa slumped to the floor and flopped backwards to stare at the ceiling. The pleading was going nowhere and she couldn't decide if Aki was ignoring the fact or just so sure of herself she couldn't see it. 

"Meh, I don't see how this is my problem. After all if he's bothering you, then he's not bothering me." Kakashi still hadn't bothered to look up from his book. 

"Because, it's your fault Iruka-sensei is always around. If you did your work maybe he wouldn't give up on you and come to annoy us!" Aki gave him a rather exasperated look, like she was talking to a three year old and not the hokage. 

"ARGH! You are so mean!" The young girl yelled. "Fine!" She growled as she rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" 

"What do you mean? Why would there be something I want, just because I refuse to help you three trouble-making genin get into more mischief?" Despite the bored tone and expression, the man did finally look up. 

"Because, everyone wants something and if you didn't want anything you would have already given it away that we're here. Which, of course, would mean Tenzou-sensei and..." She dragged the name out as though it truly annoyed her, which it did. "Iruka-sensei would be here, and they would be making us scrub toilets or something equally vile." 

"While telling you that if you can't stand to get a little dirty you'll never be able to last in the field," Kakashi added. "At least Iruka learned one thing from me. Give your underlings a reason for why they're entertaining you. It limits the whining." 

"Yeah, now what is it you want?" The glare was about as effective on Kakashi as one of his dogs giving him that look when telling him they weren't getting a bath. 

"I don't know... I just don't think you three are quite up for it." The skeptical tone grabbed the other two genin's attention. 

"We can pull off /any/ prank!" They all but screamed in unison. 

"Really... then I suppose getting Gai to wear pink would be an easy feat for you." 

"Oh, yeah, beyond easy!" Aki glared. which might have been somewhat more effective if the man hadn't returned his gaze to his book. 

"And, I want pictures." Kakashi turned a page and wondered if the kiddos really knew what they were promising. 

"Deal! But get those two work-a-holic freaks off our backs." Kakashi decided they definitely had /no/ idea what they were getting into. 

"Oh, well now /that/ will be easy." He waved a hand at them dismissively. "You can go now. It's getting to the good part." 

The trio all but bolted for the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Kakashi read and signed the paperwork that was actually important and sent it off with Izumo while Kotetsu went to fetch Iruka and Tenzou. Then, very deliberately, he picked up the remaining paperwork, shuffled it around a bit, and dropped it in a disorganized mess of a pile on his in-box. A few papers slid to the floor, so he stepped on them. As a final touch, he set a cup of cold tea on top as a paper weight.

Now it would truly look as though he hadn't done anything for the entire time his pet chunin had been off flirting with his pet ANBU. Even if Iruka was officially a jounin now, and Tenzou was technically a jounin sensei now, it was still basically the same thing. And, he couldn't have Iruka thinking he wasn't 'appreciated'.

He was playing with Obito when the two finally arrived. The way Iruka's jaw dropped at the sight assured him the chunin wouldn't be abandoning him at every excuse. And, the twitch... ah, that was just an added bonus. After all, who was he supposed to use as entertainment if Iruka and Tenzou were nowhere to be found? Kurenai knew him too well and didn't fall for the lazy act anymore. But, those two had never really caught on.

"You!" Iruka screamed as he walked over to the stack and very carefully picked the cup up. "Haven't done a damn thing in three days, have you?"

Inwardly, Kakashi grinned; there was the twitch again! But, all Iruka saw was the lazy bored glance he presented. "Oh well, I figured if there was anything important you'd have told me."

"You're the genius. Can't you figure it out for yourself for a change?" Iruka rubbed his scar, and Kakashi's inner brat did a dance of pure evil joy.

"But, that's why I have /you/." He felt his lips twitch and was grateful he had his mask up.

"He's just trying to get under your skin, Iruka. If he can't do his own work without you standing over him, let him hear it from the council for a change," Tenzou said calmly.

'Hey! Bad pet ANBU!' Kakashi wanted to pout, or at least throw something at the man who was attempting to ruin his fun. Then, it occurred to him that Tenzou hadn't attached a formality to Iruka's name, and he was suddenly highly amused again. "You don't understand Tenzou. I have so much work to do, it's overwhelming, and Iruka is the only one who can keep it all sorted out."

Iruka rubbed at the tea stain left by the cup and frowned, already beginning to sort the mess of papers, and completely ignoring Tenzou's remark. "How did you get these all out of order and... Oh god, what is that?" The man's nose crinkled up in the funniest way. "Is that baby food?"

"Well, you see, I was trying to go through them, and then Obito started crying. So, I tried to feed him while I was reading those, and he hit the spoon." Kakashi left out the part where the reason Obito hit the spoon was because he'd been trying to teach his son to hit moving objects. He also decided it really wasn't that important that he'd very deliberately laid out the papers in hopes something like that would happen. The reading thing had more been out of boredom than anything.

Tenzou frowned at him while Iruka just sighed, and Kakashi... Kakashi secretly grinned. Being Hokage was down right boring! The crystal ball thing was entertaining in a hands off kind of way but this... this was almost as good as messing with his genin brats' heads had been so many years ago. 

"I'm going to go get a new copy of these. I'll be right back." Iruka shook his head distractedly and headed for the door.

"But, I wanted to tell you something...." He let the whine slip into his voice.

"I'm sure it's not /that/ important. However, if I don't go track down Keiko before 2 o'clock, I won't be able to get a new copy of the finances until after she gets back from her trip to Stone. And, this is supposed to be on Chiro's desk by tomorrow." Iruka frowned before turning back and slipping through the door.

"You're an ass." Tenzou glared at him.

"You're hogging my pet chunin." The whining tone was still there.

"He's not a chunin anymore. You promoted him, remember?" The spiky-haired brunette said, taking a seat across from him.

"He's still my pet chunin." Kakashi set Obito on the floor and pulled out his book.

"Iruka's your 'assistant' not your pet." He could feel Tenzou's glare but didn't look up.

"About that... he became 'Iruka' rather quickly. Is there something you're not telling me?" He caught the briefest look of surprise before the man's ANBU training kicked in.

"I've known him for over ten years." Obito tugged on Tenzou's pant leg, and the man scooped him up. "That's not quick."

"Yeah, but until about three days ago, he was still Iruka-sensei..." Kakashi raised an eyebrow but didn't otherwise look up.

"He's an easy man to like. Unlike /some/ people, he doesn't patronize me," he said, taking off his headgear and handing it to baby to play with.

"Do you have a crush on my nanny?" Kakashi teased, torn between laughing and going 'awe' now that his suspicions were confirmed.

"He's /not/ your nanny." The slightest irritation could be heard in the ANBU's voice.

"Yes, he is. He even changes diapers." Kakashi smirked, this was proving to be more entertaining than he'd hoped.

"Yeah, yours." The Rokudaime stuck his tongue out under his mask at the jibe.

"He'd make such a cute wife." Yes, this was definitely turning out to be more fun than he could have imagined.

"I'm going to tell him you said that," Tenzou said, looping the head piece over Obito's head. The infant promptly started chewing on it.

"Do and I'll tell him that you like him." The smirk was quickly becoming a grin.

"I never said that." Tenzou shook his head but didn't refute the statement completely.

"I'm assuming I'm right, since I usually am," Kakashi said, grinning and turning the page.

"I'd tell you what happens when you do that, but you're already an ass." Both men laughed at the remark, and Kakashi plotted how best to use his now confirmed information.

\--------

Iruka groaned as he reached over and grabbed the noisy bastard of an alarm clock and threw it across the room. His head felt like he'd been kicked by Gai, and he did actually know how that felt. After a few seconds, he realized there had been no crashing sound of the alarm clock hitting the far wall and cracked an eye open, wincing at the pain the light caused.

"You really shouldn't throw things at your superiors," Kakashi said from where he was leaning against the aforementioned wall.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He wasn't in the mood to deal with the man, and the fact he /knew/ the silver-haired nin was smirking under his damned mask didn't help improve his mood.

Kakashi shrugged. "I just didn't leave last night after I dragged your ass home."

"Fuck. Tell me I didn't come onto /you/?" He closed his eyes, his head hurt and not being able to focus was making him dizzy.

"So cruel, Iruka-kun. And, after I even made you breakfast..." There was a definite whine to the tone, despite the fact that he knew the copy-nin wasn't offended. He ignored Kakashi's teasing. They both knew the statement had more to do with Iruka not wanting to make an ass of himself than finding Kakashi unattractive. Besides, Kurenai was rather possessive, and he really didn't want to be on her bad side.

That thought made him wonder even more why his friend was here. "Isn't Kurenai going to be irritated that you stayed out all night? After all, it was your anniversary party."

"She suggested it. Told me to make your eggs extra runny, too," the Rokudaime said, smirking.

"Your wife has an evil sense of humor." He buried his head under the pillow.

"She took Tenzou home and left the kids with Anko." There was something to the tone, but Iruka's head hurt too much to figure out what was unusual about it.

"I can't believe you leave them with her," he muttered.

"She's surprisingly good with them." He could hear Kakashi walking around and was half tempted to peek out from under the safety of his pillow to find out why. "You know, you don't need Tenzou to be drunk to get his attention."

'Ah, that's what the tone was, annoyance.' Iruka groaned. "What? Don't want me fucking 'your kohai'." He knew it was irrational, but his head hurt, and the fact Kakashi, of all people, was scolding him was grating his already fried nerves. So what if he'd bought the man a few drinks. Why was it any of Kakashi's business?

"Ma, more like I didn't want you fucking it up with 'my kohai.' And, you know, Iruka, you're an ass when you're hung over." A moment later, the pillow was yanked away, and he winced as light hit the back of his eyelids. The bastard had turned the lights on, so even with them closed, it hurt.

"Fuck you, Kakashi." Although, he wasn't sure if he was more irritated by the man's remarks, or the fact Kakashi had stolen his pillow and was refusing to let him sleep out his hangover.

"As tempting as that sounds, somehow I don't think you mean it." The amusement was back, and Iruka snatched the kunai he kept on his headboard and flung it towards the copy-nin; who, of course, easily dodged it.

"Meanie." Kakashi said a moment before he yanked the blankets away and smack Iruka's bare ass, who yelped and sat up.

"Where the hell are my clothes!" The man had no sense of decency.

"You took them off. This was probably a good idea, since you threw up all over them. Twice." Kakashi said, snickering. "Now, get that cute little ass of yours out of bed and go take a shower. Or, I swear, I'll invite Tenzou over for breakfast." Kakashi laughed as Iruka wrapped the sheet around himself and sulked off towards the bathroom.

"Oh, and by the way, I'd avoid Ibiki and Raidou for the next few days. Declaring your undying love to Genma and Anko is not the best way to remain on their good sides. Kotetsu, however, found it highly amusing. He was very disappointed that I dragged you home, instead of letting him and Izumo have their way with you." Kakashi called after him.

Iruka slammed the back of his head against the door, and then promptly regretted it. "Fuck." He'd have to think of a way to apologize for being such a prick, and Tenzou probably thought he was a total dick after last night. 'Well,' he decided, 'there's always the chance he won't remember either.' Of course, with Iruka's luck, he'd remember every single detail. There were reasons Iruka didn't drink, he really should know better by now.


	6. Chapter 6

Kurenai shook her head as she guided her grumbling and very drunk friend out the door. "Y'know wah? I hate Ka... Ka... senpai!" he declared loud enough for half the bar to hear. 

"Yes, yes, I know." She wondered how Kakashi was fairing with the fondling, obviously sex starved Iruka. She wouldn't be surprised if the man tried to strip before her dear husband got him safely out of the bar. The thought /almost/ made her wish she was taking the other home. He had a very nice body, and she wasn't above looking, especially under the guise of helping. Not that Tenzou was unattractive. She just didn't see him making the same attempt any time soon. The man was more of a bitchy drunk.

"I hate him!" Tenzou said again, pointing blindly at the sky as though to emphasize the declaration. 

'Oh well, might as well have some fun of my own,' she decided. "And, why do you hate him, Tenzou?"

"Cuz... uh..." Tenzou stopped and stared down at his feet, wobbling even with her supporting him.

"Did he do something you didn't like?" Kakashi had told her his suspicions; and, while she was inclined to believe him, it wouldn't hurt to confirm the information. Tenzou stared at her for a moment, as though trying to remember what it was his senpai had done. "Did he take your Iruka-kun?" She asked ever so helpfully.

"Shouldn't of taken him," he slurs, nodding in agreement with her.

Kurenai pulled the man forward again. "You're right. He's a mean, bad senpai for taking Iruka-kun from you," she snickered, not bothering to hide it, knowing Tenzou wasn't likely to notice in his inebriated state. "But, why does it matter if he takes Iruka-kun from you?"

"Shhh..." The drunken man slurred as he tried to press a finger to his lips and missed, jabbing himself in the cheek. "Ow..." He stared at the finger, as though it was his hands fault that he poked himself, then looked back at her as though he'd remembered something. "Issa secret."

"A secret?" Kurenai asked, snickering and wondering why it was such a secret. Especially, since it was such a badly kept one.

"Yeshhhh... shhh..." He played with the sound until it actually began to grate on her nerves, and she yanked him forward.

"Focus. Why is it a secret?" She wasn't grinding her teeth, clenching them a little, but definitely not grinding.

"Cuz... cuz he dozzin know," Tenzou smiled dreamily.

"Know what?" Kurenai prodded. It wasn't that she didn't already know, but she really wanted to hear the man actually say it.

"Uh..." He stared at her, blinking for a moment, and then grinned and began singing, very off key.

"Definitely should have made Kakashi take Tenzou home. Damn ANBU and their inability to spill secrets when drunk." She pouted and bemoaned her misfortune as Tenzou changed songs halfway through.

\-----

"Rise And Shine Beautiful!" Kurenai yelled, in her best imitation of Gai. She threw in a good guy pose, or, well, girl as the case may be, a moment before she flung open the curtains. The kunoichi dodged the three wood kunai aimed her way. "Wakey, Wakey Eggs and Bakey!" 

Tenzou glared at her with his creepy eyes look and she shuddered. It was surprisingly more effective when the man was hung over.

"Now, now, Tenzou-kun, you have to meet with Kakashi in an hour. You should be grateful I woke you up!" She wasn't about to tell him what it was for. Her husband could deal with the two men. After all, it was his idea. "I /even/ made you breakfast! Western style, too!"

"Urgh..." He rolled over in an attempt to ignore her.

'That won't do... I'm not done having my fun yet,' Kurenai thought before disappearing from the room for a moment, only to return with a frying pan. "If you don't get up, you won't have time to eat!" She kept her tone perky and as loud as was humanly possible. Really having Gai and Shizune for friends had subtle advantages.

It was a matter of mere seconds before a rather naked Tenzou streaked from the bed to the bathroom, the door slamming behind him. The dark-haired woman stood against the door licking her lips, and reminiscing about how much fun it had been to get the man naked. He'd put up a good fight, for a drunk man. Unfortunately for him, genjutsu worked surprisingly well on the inebriated mind. It had been such a nice show, too, and the quick morning flash had brought it perfectly to the surface all over again.

"I hope you like your eggs runny; I couldn't seem to get your stove to work properly!"

\---------

"I'm glad you guys made it." Kakashi patted two men on the head, both of which groaned and glared at him. "I have a mission for the two of you."

"Get somebody else," Iruka growled.

"Aw... but I can only trust you two with this particular mission. Besides, you don't get a choice." He grinned and sat on the edge of his desk. "Sometimes, I really /love/ being Hokage."

"I think, if we work together, we can kill him," Tenzou muttered, resting his head in his hands.

Iruka closed his eyes and slumped back in the chair. "Okay, you start... use that super fancy cage thing of yours. I'll... I'll just not move for a minute."

"It's a fun mission, and you get to do it together!" Kakashi stood and walked over to the door to help his wife inside, taking Obito and several bags out of her arms.

"UNKIE TWEE!" The two-year-old squealed, a moment before she launched herself at the chair the man was sitting in.

"Now, we expect you to take very good care of them while we're gone," Kakashi said as he plopped the infant into Iruka's lap. Obito immediately began crying, the wet diaper leaking slightly where it pressed against the man's leg.

"I hate you," Tenzou growled at the silver-haired man, who was currently piling diaper bags and other 'necessities' around the two men. Unfortunately, Rin, being two, misunderstood and thought that her 'unkie twee' was talking to her and burst into tears.

"I didn't mean you, please, stop crying," he began pleading with the little girl. It didn't seem to be working anymore than Iruka's feeble attempts to get Obito to stop.

"We'll be back in two weeks, have fun!" And, before either man could protest, the couple disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm going to kill him when he gets back," Iruka muttered. This, of course, only served to set Rin off in another round of tears.


	7. Chapter 7

"I Challenge You!" Asuma yelled, grinning as wide as he could and doing his best attempt at a good guy pose. And, it worked for all of two seconds, until Shizune stepped out from behind her husband and glared at him, then it became more of a hesitant smile.

"You really think that after I finally put a stop to the idiotic challenges between my husband and that silver-haired pain in the ass, that I'd let _you_ , a genin, start those ridiculous things again?" One of her eyebrows twitched, and her fist clenched around the melon she was holding until a crack started to form on the surface.

Asuma's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "I... uh..."

"Especially when I _know_ who put you up to it?" Despite the fact that she wasn't yelling, most of the shoppers nearby had stopped to watch.

"Ah, such youthful enthusiasm!" Gai said, grinning, his arms loaded with groceries. "Perhaps I could..."

"NO!" The melon in her hand burst, and she looked down at it, seemingly having just realized she was holding it.

"But..." Gai's smile faltered as Shizune grabbed his arm and yanked him past the three genin.

"Gah, she's such a stick in the mud!" Aki said, sticking her tongue out and pulling the skin of her cheeks down with her index fingers to show the pinks of her eyes. "Stupid Shizune!" The woman didn't even stop to acknowledge the insult.

"I thought you said this was going to be easy..." Kawa said, scratching Aoimaru behind the ear.

"We'll just have to corner Gai when Mrs. Stupid-head isn't around." She stuck her tongue out one last time in the direction Shizune and Gai had disappeared in before grabbing Asuma's arm and pulling him along behind her.

Kawa shrugged and followed her friends.

\---

"She's entering the tea shop," came Kawa's voice from over the headset.

"Do you see Gai?" Aki asked, heading off in the direction her friend had been scouting.

"Negative, he's not with her." A yip from Aoimaru caused the device to pitch slightly, and Aki rubbed her ear. "Aoi, says he can't smell him nearby either."

"Asuma check your locations, I'll search mine. Kawa continue holding your position. Warn us if the bird leaves the nest."

"The what? You mean Shizune?" The radio crackled, and the rustling of fabric and hair could be heard.

"No, I mean an actual bird," the brunette muttered, dropping in front of the specialty tailor Gai frequented. "Of course I mean Shizune."

"I was just checking, sheesh."

"He's not at the curry stand, moving to the next location," Asuma cut in.

The kids bounded around searching the noted points of interest for the strange shinobi, slowly crisscrossing their way towards the tea shop. Aki skidded to stop as she caught a bit of green out of the corner of her eye, spinning around only to discover it was a man hanging a flag up outside his shop declaring it carried fresh herbs. She grumbled and took off again, clearing each location with her teammates until she was panting and her legs felt weak.

"Found him!" Asuma gasped, just ask Aki swung around the corner to the last location before they'd have converged on the tea shop.

"I... I..." the boy panted, half bent over with one hand on a knee and the other held weakly up in a thumbs up sign. "...challenge you..." He wobbled and a hand caught his shoulder steadying him. "...to wearing pink..." And then, not even the hand was enough, and he slipped to his knees still trying to catch his breath.

"Ah, but every challenge must serve a purpose, young Asuma-kun," Gai chuckled.

"Because... ugh... I have a reason..." Asuma raised his arm, pointing a rather wobbly finger at the green clad man. "... just give me a minute..." He flopped over backwards, his arm draped loosely across his forehead.

Aki heaved, bent over herself as she tried to catch her breath. But, despite her best attempts to get the air into her lungs, they still burned, and she couldn't seem to form the words to tell Gai Asuma's reason.

"I am sure you do, young one, but I must go, or my beloved will wonder what has caught my attention and come looking for me." The man reached down and patted the boy on the head before moving off.

"The bird is leaving the nest! The bird is leaving the nest!" Kawa hissed over the radio.

"Huh?" Aki asked confused and trying desperately to keep her lunch from making a sudden and rather unwanted encore.

"Shizune! She's leaving!" Came the annoyed reply from her friend.

"Don't care," Asuma groaned, still lying on his back in the alley.

\---

"GAH!" A kunai thunked into the tree beside several others as the young genin screamed and yanked at her purple and brown tresses in obvious frustration. "Stupid, evil... GAH, I HATE HER!"

Kawa yawned at her teammates tantrum, and then proceeded to try and balance her senbon on her tongue. Their latest attempt had failed, and she really wasn't overly surprised. 

"I bet we could get half the village to wear pink before we manage to get Gai to. At least we can't with Shizune digging her heels in like she is." Asuma muttered, tossing a kunai to Aki, who threw it angrily at the tree with the rest. "It's not like we really even need to. You heard my mom, Iruka and Tenzou-sensei are stuck playing house for the next two weeks. That's like having two weeks vacation.

"Because." The girl dropped to the ground, pouting and looking even younger than she was. "I'm not going to let that big, dumb, stupid, idiotic..." She paused in her tirade to consider what noun to call Shizune. "...TWIT win!"

Kawa laughed, drawing a glare and a rather heated 'What?' from her best friend. "Oh, I was just thinking how funny it would be if your dad wore pink," she snickered. "I mean really, can you see the 'oh so scary Ibiki Morino' in pink?" She and Asuma burst out laughing at the image.

After a moment they realized Aki wasn't laughing with them. "I mean, I'm sure your dad would look cool in anything," Kawa apologized hurriedly before noticing the smile on the other girl's face. It was some strange cross between Anko's prankish grin and Ibiki's dark, malicious, 'I have an idea' smirk.


	8. Chapter 8

Anko raised an eyebrow as her eleven-year-old daughter crawled up on her father's overly large desk, perched on her hands and knees, and smiled. Ibiki didn't even bother looking up from the report he was reading.

"What do you want, Aki-chan?" He asked, frowning and making a notation in margin.

"I love you, Daddy." The brown eyes batted hopefully.

"Yes, sweetheart, I'm aware." He patted her head before furrowing his brow and calmly reaching over to grab a scroll from the stack beside him. "Now, tell me what you want, so I can get back to work."

"You're not even looking at me, though." The girl's bottom lip trembled, and Anko smothered a laugh and pretended to write her own report.

"You're pouting and making doe eyes at me. Is there any particular reason I need to stare directly at you?" Ibiki chewed on the end of his pen, cracking the plastic between his teeth thoughtfully.

"Because, how do I know if you're paying attention if you're not even looking at me?" A very mild whine crept into her voice.

Ibiki sighed and turned to look at his daughter's face. "Yes, you're very cute, now what do you want?"

Aki's bottom lip stuck further out, but Ibiki seemed unmoved. "You can do _anything_ , right, Daddy?"

"Hmm..." he replied noncommittally. "Am I going to be able to finish my paperwork sometime today?"

"You could wear pink right?" The bright brown eyes batted, and she grinned again.

The scarred man simply raised an eyebrow, surprised by the request, if it could be called that. "Why do you want me to wear pink?"

"Because they said you couldn't. They said you'd look silly, and people would laugh at you? Nobody would dare laugh at _you_ , right, Daddy?" Anko tried not to snicker, but it just slipped out.

"You're mother laughs at me all the time," her husband said, shooting a bored glance in her direction.

The pre-teen sighed dramatically. "She doesn't count, she's mom."

Ibiki rubbed his temple and turned back to his paperwork, but Aki wasn't ready to give up and immediately started whining and pleading for him to 'please just this once do her this tiny little favor and she'd be good forever and never ask him for anything ever again.' After a good ten minutes, he sighed. "If I say yes, will you go away and let me work?"

"Only if you wear it tomorrow," she piped up with a toothy grin.

"Fine, now go find someone else to keep from their work." His daughter squealed dramatically, causing even Ibiki to wince at the high pitched sound. Then, she promptly jumped off the desk and ran off to find her friends.

Anko burst out laughing, receiving an icy glare from her husband at the disruption. "The only person who has you more wrapped around their pinky than me... is her." 

Ibiki merely rolled his eyes and began scratching at the paper with his pen again.

\----

Kawa handed Raidou the very nicely wrapped box. "Make _sure_ that he wears it. They cost me most of my own money, and if you aren't both wearing them tomorrow, I'll lace his senbon with laxatives or something equally horrible when he least expects it," she said. The sweet smile she gave was offset by her words, as well as the pointed bobbing of her own senbon as it twitched between her lips.

"Yes, ma'am," Raidou said, trying not to laugh. He didn't doubt for a second that Genma would probably wear it simply to see what his daughter was up to, but the threats were always creative and entertained him so he didn't mention that fact. Tucking the box under his arm, he waved to Hana and yelled that they'd be over for dinner on Friday; she smiled and nodded, and he turned to go find his lover. The box had him more than a little curious, and he was eager to see what the girl had gotten them. He was also eager to see if, between Genma and himself, they could figure out what her and her teammates were up to.

\----

Aki pulled several pink scarves from the box, grinning. "You gave Rai the shirts?"

Kawa rolled her eyes and scratched several names off her list. "Of course I did. And, Ayame-san promised to make her dad wear her pink apron for tomorrow."

Asuma lifted his finger. "Ebisu agreed to wear a pink shirt in exchange for the porn I stole from Kakashi, and Kotetsu and Izumo said they'd wear a scarf in exchange for me watching the gate for a couple of hours. Though, with all the red marks they came back with, their necks.... they're probably pink enough without one." 

Aki nodded, laughing softly. "We have five left. Sakura said, if I got them to her after her shift, she'd make sure her team wore it. She wanted one too so they'd all match." Aki quickly painted TEAM 7 down the front of four of the scarves and laid them out to dry.

"Okay, so, one for each of them, but uh..." Asuma eyed the fifth scarf, the one she'd left untouched of paint. "What's with that scarf?"

The girls each lifted up an end of the scarf and turned mischievous glares on their teammate.

"You wouldn't want to be left out, right, Asuma-kun?" Aki cooed in a tone of voice she'd obviously picked up from her mother.

\----

Asuma glared and tugged again at the scarf. "I still don't see why you two don't have to wear one, too."

Aki chuckled. "Because you're a guy and we're not." She shoved him lightly with her shoulder. "So be a 'real man', and take one for the team."

"Yeah Aoi's even wearing a pink collar I borrowed from Mom." Kawa patted her mutt's head and pointedly ignored the irritated growl coming from the dog. "Besides, we hate pink."

Casually, weaving through the crowds on their way to the place they were meeting up with Kakashi and Kurenai, the kids walked around what they were coming to call the 'Gai district' in hopes of 'casually' running into Shizune and Gai. Several people waved to them, and they noted the number of them wearing pink.

Aki grabbed Asuma's hand and yanked him over to a store front. Nearly seamlessly, Kawa and Aoi shifted to follow.

Aki squealed, pointing at the merchandise in the window. "Look!" A bright  pink shirt declared her earlier statement that 'Real Men Wear Pink' and another beside it read 'Confidence isn't a Color,' with 'Got Pink?' below it.

Kawa laughed. "Wow, they made those fast!" She poked Asuma in the ribs. "We should have painted something like that on your scarf!"

Asuma gave them both an irritated look, then dragged them off towards the food stall they'd decided on as their meeting spot. "You two are paying for lunch or I'm taking it off."

"Fine," both girls laughed, grinning at each other behind Asuma's back.

They didn't catch sight of Gai on their way but as they slid onto the bench they couldn't help but notice the sheer amounts of pink.

"So..." Kakashi said, coming up behind them. "How exactly did you manage to get so many people involved in your little scheme?" he asked, clearly smiling under the mask. He slipped onto bench across from them.

" _That_ was the easy part," Aki said, a wide grin sliding onto her face. "It's secret though."

They had done everything from pull weeds for Yamanaka-san to carry feed for Shikamaru. Inoichi had then _let_ them move all of the pink flowers to the front of his shop for the day and Shikamaru had agreed to wear 'whatever pink thing they gave him as long as it wasn't too much trouble'. Kiba had happily dug around and found a pink collar for his boyfriend and then one for Akamaru too in exchange for Kawa agreeing to take over his night shift when the puppies came. Their entire day yesterday had been a mass of little trades that had them falling over exhausted by the end of it. They all agreed though that it was worth it if it worked.

"Where's mom?" Asuma broke in.  They were supposed to meet both of them before they headed out of the village for their vacation.

"She's taking care of some last minute details." Kakashi picked up the menu and looked it over.

" _What_ last minute details?" Asuma asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously at Kakashi.

Kakashi shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh you know... finding you a babysitter. We thought it might be a bit much to make Iruka and Tenzou watch all five of you."

Asuma's cheeks flushed and he narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. "I don't need a baby sitter if I can go on missions I'm old enough to take care of myself if you and mom go away for a couple weeks."

"You're still such a sweet child," Kurenai laughed, ruffling her son's hair. "So gullible..." She slid onto the seat beside her husband and shoved his shoulder roughly. "And _you_ are just childish. Really." Kurenai shook her head then turned back to the kids. "I just stopped to talk to your mom Aki-chan. I just wanted to make sure she knew that more than likely you three would need an extra set of eyes kept on you since Tenzou and Iruka will undoubtedly have their hands full."

"Babysitter," Kakashi muttered, still pretending to read the menu.

"If I was going to get a babysitter for anyone I'd be getting it for you," Kurenai retorted, rolling her eyes.

The waitress came over and they ordered. After they ate Asuma tried to incist Aki and Kawa had to pay for him but Kurenai ignored him and simply paid for all of them. They all headed out and towards the gate.

"Where's all your stuff?" Aki asked, confused why they weren't carrying packs or something.

"Why else would I become hokage other than to have somebody carry my 'stuff' around? Well there is the whole fact that I look really good in the outfit." His eye curved up in.

"We have to have an ANBU escort to leave the village even when we're only going as far as we are," Kurenai explained to the kids. "And don't believe his act for a moment, he hates the outfit and he hates having people carry his stuff for him."

Kakashi's 'grin' disappeared. "Yeah well give them 30 years as a shinobi and they'll find it as obnoxious as I do."

Aki, Kawa, and Asuma laughed and shook their heads in unison.

"I think I'll be ready for somebody to carry my gear by then," Kawa said simply.

Asuma snickered and dropped back, sliding around to the far side of Aki away from Kawa. "Aoi carries it anyway, I think he'll be the one ready for somebody to carry it," he teased once he was safely out of the way.

Aki laughed but continued walking. "He even carries you half the time."

She spit a senbon at Asuma. It grazed along the side of his head and planted itself in the wall. "Yeah?" Kawa's lips drew in a thin line of a smile and she looked between her two teammates. "I bet you'd carry Asu-kun's stuff for him... and maybe he could carry you and you guys would be even," she singsonged, her lips curling up in a toothy grin.

The two kids flew apart, flushing pink, and turning to glare at their teammate.

"Such A Youthful And Beautiful Day For Love! Wouldn't You Agree Rival?"

Aki and Asuma's blushes darkened and then all three of the kids turned to look at Gai. It took a moment for them to get over the own embarrassment and then their eyes widened.

Gai was dressed in an almost normal Jounin uniform which was a shock in and of itself. If that had been it alone they would have made a quick recovery. The bright pink t-shirt with 'BONZAI' splashed across the front of it in another shade of hot pink darker than the shirt, however had them all staring for a moment. 

Aki let loose the first yell of triumph, literally jumping up and throwing a fist into the air. Then the other two joined in with their shouting of "We did it!" and "Ha! We win!"

"Mah... what are you talking about, Gai?" Kakashi asked, ignoring the kids. His voice took on the exceptionally bored tones they did when the other man was around.

"Why Do You Ask Such Questions? Surely After All These Years You Do Not Believe I Have Not Seen More Than Enough To Know That My Dear Rival Is Slipping Away To Show His Eternal And Beautiful Love To His True Love Out Of The Sight Of Our Village Where He Must Refrain From Such Wondrous And Youthful Moments In Favor Of Modesty As The Hokage?" Gai's eyes shined dramatically with tears as though it was the most romantic thing he'd ever thought of. "Such Youthful And Beautiful Moments Must Be Shared With No One Else!" The tears streamed down his cheeks at declaration.

Kakashi look up from his book, having pulled it out somewhere near the beginning. "More like out of the sight and out of hearing range of them." He inclined his head at the kids.

Kurenai punched his arm and laughed. "They aren't _that_ bad," she said wincing and rubbing her ear as one of the girls' voices pitched unbearably high.

"They Are Quite Spirited!" Gai said, smiling brightly. He walked over and threw an arm around Kakashi's shoulder, heading a little ways out the gate where the ANBU escorts waited. "I don't, however, think they quite understand our challenges my friend, you must explain this to them a bit better."

"Then _why_ are you wearing pink?" Kakashi asked, raising a brow at his friend.

Gai smiled even wider. "I could not let such hard work to unrewarded."

"They did get half the village turned pink," Kurenai chimed in. "Rai and Genma look rather cute in their matching pink shirts and you should pay Ibiki a visit. I think you'd be able to truly appreciate their hard work then."

"Ah, yes I shall do that then," Gai said, hugging them both before turning and heading back into the village.


End file.
